Today when I got home from school, I found myself with nothing to do. I had no work for the next day nor was it my turn in the kitchen.
The house was kind off quiet too, everybody was off doing their own thing.
I flipped through channels and then decided to do some Facebook stalking...but I couldn't find the Ipad anywhere!
I hunted around abit in the usual places but it was nowhere to be seen...
Of course I immediately thought that Tumi or Thembi might have pinched it...after all, hadn't I used it just last night?
I distinctly remember playing games while imraan was at gym, I left it on the side table in sure...without logging off or switching it off, as usual.
Maybe one of them came into the room and saw the opportunity to take it?
Wait!wait! Wait!
I was jumping to conclusions...it was a terrible habit I must have picked up from my mother, every time something is misplaced, I immediately think it must have been stolen by the maid! I really need to stop making these false assumptions.
It was entirely possible Imraan could have put it somewhere...
I sent him a quick message asking if he knew where the Ipad was and then I heard Talha and Tariq so I went to chat to Sumaya.
When Imraan came home from work he was unusually quiet, not his usual jolly self. I asked him if he had a bad day at work but he just shrugged.
I guess his a bit overwhelmed with work...
At supper time I started to worry, i was getting a weird vibe from Imraan...almost like he was upset with me! I couldn't understand why...
It definitely wasn't my imagination I decided after imraan ate in near silence, refusing to look at me, he didn't even ask me to pass him the bread that was right next to me, he asked Sumaya instead!
By the time we got to our room I was really worrying.
"Imraan...are you angry with me?", I asked quietly.
" here's the IPad you wanted!", Imraan said tossing the tablet onto the bed.
"oh, Oki...want to tell me what's wrong?", I asked.
" want to tell me who's zain?", Imraan shot back.
" what! Zain? I don't know!", I said confused.
I was so baffled by Imraan's behavior...
"Don't.lie.to.me.Fatima!", Imraan said through clenched teeth.
" I am NOT lying, why would I lie!", I replied, almost in tears.
Imraan grabbed the IPad from the bed and furiously started punching his finger at the screen...then he practically shoved it under my nose!
" THEN HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THIS!!!!", he yelled, close to tears himself.
The tears in my eyes made everything blurring, I had never seen Imraan so angry before and his behavior was frightening me...we have had fights obviously, but nothing like this...worse thing is, I didn't even know what we were fighting about!
I looked down into the screen, trying to see through my tears, it took me a minute to recognize the Facebook messaging app that was open, and another to make out the blurry writing...:
Zain Mohammed
Salaams
It was so nice to meet you the other day, 'a person like you is truly rare',as you said to me. Can't help but hope that our paths cross again sometime. Tc mwah
28 September , 19:08
OMW....!!!!!
Before I could register the message or even explain, Imraan started up again...
" is this why you were looking for the Ipad so frantically today? You didn't want me to see the message! You wanted to reply!"
Imraan was furious! And guess what...
I was furious too!
How dare he think that low of me!
But before I could even speak, a knock on the door interrupted us...
" Imraan Betha...is everything okay?"
Oh, here's the cherry on top... of course the whole damn house was ears wide open for this little fiasco...and MiL was leading the circus!
Showing posts with label zain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label zain. Show all posts
Wednesday, 1 October 2014
Wednesday, 24 September 2014
Part 39: Rescue Mission
I grabbed my handbag and gestured for Tumi to follow me out.
" Sumaya I'm going to check!", I called out over my shoulder.
I got into the car and I was about to open the passenger side for Tumi but she got into the backseat.
As I drove to the bus stop at the end of the road, she explained to me that the other maids had seen the boys getting onto a bus earlier that was headed for town.
OMW!!!!...i couldn't imagine what would make two five year olds that have never been on public transport ever, take a bus alone!
When we got the bus stop I got out and spoke to the ladies that sell sweets there, they both confirmed what Tumi had heard.
I didn't know what to do! I tried calling Imraan but his phone kept going to voicemail and anyway what help would he be, he was 45mins away!
Suddenly I saw the bus and taxi operator numbers stuck on the bus stop shelter, I called it!
I had to speak to three different people and explain to them I needed the route of a bus that stopped at this stop around 1:30, nobody seemed to understand me even though I tried to give a description of the bus etc...
Finally, seeing my faustration, Tumi motioned for me to give her the phone...
In a torrent of fast paced IsiZulu I didn't understand she managed to get us put through to the bus driver of the said bus.
He too remembered the boys very well but unfortunately they had just hopped of at his last stop...outside mr price in town!!!!, Tumi explained to me.
I didn't stop to think, I just ran back to my car and made a u-turn headed towards the freeway that would take me into the CBD...as I approached the on ramp i thought I better call Imraan stained...as I searched for my phone with one hand, I suddenly remembered that I had left it with Tumi when I took off...oh-0...too late now, I couldn't go back!
Luckily I was heading into town so I didn't have much traffic, but once I got there, west street was a circus at this hour! It took me ages to get to the corner where the huge Mr price is located and even longer to find parking...i don't know,what I was thinking! They may not even be here!
But I had a hunch...
I finally found parking and ran into the store, I headed straight for security, I tried to explain to him as best as I could, luckily he seemed to understand me and directed me to the manager.
The manager too knew what I was all frantic about, despite it being minutes away from closing time, he too made a few quiet phone calls and then directed me to the 3rd floor....swiping his employee card to give me access to a 'staff only' area and lift.
In the lift I suddenly felt very scared, I had calmed down by then and suddenly realized that I was on a wild goose chase, nobody knew were I was, if Imraan was home yet, he must be frantic...and here I was in an unknown building, in an area unseen by public, going I don't know where...
When the lift open I found myself in a busy office area with tons of people frantically finishing up their busy day...phones were ringing all over, people rushing here and their...i didn't know who to stop and ask...
"Fatiiii MAAmeeeeee"
The shouting of my name made me turn, just in time as first one boy and then the other ran to me, wrapping themselves around me...
.OMW, I found them!
A man about my age was walking towards me, thankfully he was smiling.
"As salaam mu alukum", he greeted me...I'm Zaid.
"wasalaam", I replied
" so you here for my two friends, I thought Il have to take them home with me!" he said as he ruffled their hair.
Zaid explained to me that the staff on the shop floor found the boys earlier in the afternoon when they came in asking for the staff to call their mother, they told staff that their mum always shops at this store and they want their mum to fetch them, they didn't know their phone number or address so somebody decided to call him from accounts to see if he could get their parents via the company data base. He had been told to report it to the police by the close of business if he didn't find the parents.
Zaid tried looking for their surname on the system, but none of the names and addresses that came up matched the area that the twins said they lived in.
He finally posted to Ask Nani Ma , in hope that somebody would have better details while he tried to keep them entertained and extract more information.
He hesitated to call the police because he felt that they may not be able to locate the parents any better than he could and feared that the children would be placed in custody till the parents were found, he had no faith in the local police.
I was so relieved to find these two monkeys, I just took all his details down for Shireen and Bilaal to contact him and thank him properly. I thanked him profusely.
As I was leaving he called after us "Yusuf, you forgetting your milkshake!", as one boy turned and ran to get it I stood amazed that he had learned to tell them apart in just a few hours yet I couldn't!
When I got the boys strapped into the back seat and headed back into the traffic to leave I suddenly realized I should have asked Zain to lend me his phone to call Imraan...to late now! Hopefully we would be home soon!
" Sumaya I'm going to check!", I called out over my shoulder.
I got into the car and I was about to open the passenger side for Tumi but she got into the backseat.
As I drove to the bus stop at the end of the road, she explained to me that the other maids had seen the boys getting onto a bus earlier that was headed for town.
OMW!!!!...i couldn't imagine what would make two five year olds that have never been on public transport ever, take a bus alone!
When we got the bus stop I got out and spoke to the ladies that sell sweets there, they both confirmed what Tumi had heard.
I didn't know what to do! I tried calling Imraan but his phone kept going to voicemail and anyway what help would he be, he was 45mins away!
Suddenly I saw the bus and taxi operator numbers stuck on the bus stop shelter, I called it!
I had to speak to three different people and explain to them I needed the route of a bus that stopped at this stop around 1:30, nobody seemed to understand me even though I tried to give a description of the bus etc...
Finally, seeing my faustration, Tumi motioned for me to give her the phone...
In a torrent of fast paced IsiZulu I didn't understand she managed to get us put through to the bus driver of the said bus.
He too remembered the boys very well but unfortunately they had just hopped of at his last stop...outside mr price in town!!!!, Tumi explained to me.
I didn't stop to think, I just ran back to my car and made a u-turn headed towards the freeway that would take me into the CBD...as I approached the on ramp i thought I better call Imraan stained...as I searched for my phone with one hand, I suddenly remembered that I had left it with Tumi when I took off...oh-0...too late now, I couldn't go back!
Luckily I was heading into town so I didn't have much traffic, but once I got there, west street was a circus at this hour! It took me ages to get to the corner where the huge Mr price is located and even longer to find parking...i don't know,what I was thinking! They may not even be here!
But I had a hunch...
I finally found parking and ran into the store, I headed straight for security, I tried to explain to him as best as I could, luckily he seemed to understand me and directed me to the manager.
The manager too knew what I was all frantic about, despite it being minutes away from closing time, he too made a few quiet phone calls and then directed me to the 3rd floor....swiping his employee card to give me access to a 'staff only' area and lift.
In the lift I suddenly felt very scared, I had calmed down by then and suddenly realized that I was on a wild goose chase, nobody knew were I was, if Imraan was home yet, he must be frantic...and here I was in an unknown building, in an area unseen by public, going I don't know where...
When the lift open I found myself in a busy office area with tons of people frantically finishing up their busy day...phones were ringing all over, people rushing here and their...i didn't know who to stop and ask...
"Fatiiii MAAmeeeeee"
The shouting of my name made me turn, just in time as first one boy and then the other ran to me, wrapping themselves around me...
.OMW, I found them!
A man about my age was walking towards me, thankfully he was smiling.
"As salaam mu alukum", he greeted me...I'm Zaid.
"wasalaam", I replied
" so you here for my two friends, I thought Il have to take them home with me!" he said as he ruffled their hair.
Zaid explained to me that the staff on the shop floor found the boys earlier in the afternoon when they came in asking for the staff to call their mother, they told staff that their mum always shops at this store and they want their mum to fetch them, they didn't know their phone number or address so somebody decided to call him from accounts to see if he could get their parents via the company data base. He had been told to report it to the police by the close of business if he didn't find the parents.
Zaid tried looking for their surname on the system, but none of the names and addresses that came up matched the area that the twins said they lived in.
He finally posted to Ask Nani Ma , in hope that somebody would have better details while he tried to keep them entertained and extract more information.
He hesitated to call the police because he felt that they may not be able to locate the parents any better than he could and feared that the children would be placed in custody till the parents were found, he had no faith in the local police.
I was so relieved to find these two monkeys, I just took all his details down for Shireen and Bilaal to contact him and thank him properly. I thanked him profusely.
As I was leaving he called after us "Yusuf, you forgetting your milkshake!", as one boy turned and ran to get it I stood amazed that he had learned to tell them apart in just a few hours yet I couldn't!
When I got the boys strapped into the back seat and headed back into the traffic to leave I suddenly realized I should have asked Zain to lend me his phone to call Imraan...to late now! Hopefully we would be home soon!
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